lewis



H. J. L. DETTE. Car-Coupling...

la nu Witnesses: Inventor:

IINIIED s PATENT foEEIcE;

II. .I. IIEwIs DETTE, 0E EUEEAlLo, .'NEw roert, AssIeNono'F, T'WOTHIRDSHis EIGHT To -JULIUs .ooHEN ANn HENRY MILLING, `oE sAME rIIAcE.`

IMPROVEMENT lN CARoUPLlNGs. l1

Specification forming part o f Letters Patent No. 193,736, dated January1, 1878 application filed To all whomit'maf'j concern:` l

Be It known that I, H. J. LEWIsnETTE, of

Buffalo, in the county of; Erie and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and forms afull," clear, and exact speciication,

which will enable others skilled in 'the art` to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This inventionhas special reference to carcouplings; and its object is,and it 'consists in',

the production of Aa connection for railroadcars which-shall beselicoupling, andmaybe uncoupled'froni thesid'es or platform-cfa car,

to dispense with the necessity of stepping between the carstowithdraworinsert the coup` ling-pin, thus guarding again st` the g lfrequent I accidents to life and limbs of railway-employes when engagedin coupling, and uncoupling It shall, furthermore, beso constructed asto fit the majority of cars now in use without changes or alterations onthe cai1 body or frame, so that my improved 'coupling may be readilysubstituted for the common link-andpin coupling; and it is to be soarranged as to c onnect with the link-and-pin couplings now 1n use.

To this end, I construct my car-coupling as illustrated in the drawingshereinbefore referrcd to, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectionalelevation of my improved car-coupling as attached to the body of a car.Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 3 shows a modification.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

.In these drawings, Arepresents a fragment of a freight, stock, grain,coal, or other railroadcar, of the ordinary or any special construction.On eachu end of this body are securely fastened two draw-timbers, B,placed a sufficient distance apart to admit the shank of the draw-head Cbetween them, and they are made ofthe usual length. This draw-head C hasa longitudinal bore, into which is inserted a push-block, D, having astud, E, serving as l a guide for a spiral spring, F, placed betweensaid push-block D and the end of the said bore to push the said blockforward toward the link-opening in said 4draw-head lC. The draw-head istraversed verticallyby a cylindrical passage near its face for thereception of the coupling-pin G. This pin has, near its 'upv perextremity,- an angular enlargement, YH,

which is ltraversedby anfaperture, I. Above this `enlargement isa'circular disk, .I, and

above that a ball, Kl Upon the draw-headC'* is provided a bracket, L,within which is. pivoted 'a lever, N, the forward end of which e"n``gages the pin G in the aperture I, while the rear end is acted upon bythe extremity of either oneffof two levers, P P', which levers arecentrally pivoted to the .car-body A by F meansof the flanged studs Q Q'screwed to said body. The ends of these levers P vP areprovided withhandles It R", for conven-L ience inI 'actuating said levers, andkthey'are` provided each with bifurcated guidebrackets S S, to keep themin proper position. Theu opposite 'ends of these levers are reduced inAwidth', 'asshown at T, soas to enable themto pass *one another, andtor-,act upon 'the lever N,as near as possible, upon 'thes'aniefspot.nTo\ the guides S S are pivotedr stops U, to L support the outer end inan elevated position,

when necessary, so that the push-block D may readily move forward inimcoupling carsby upholding the pin G.

The push-block D consists of an angular piece, having its facecup-shaped, or provided with a semi-spherical depression.

The operation of my improved coupling is as follows, to wit: Assumingtwo cars are being uncoupled, the levers P P are elevated to depress therear end of the lever N and elevate the coupling-pin G. Now the cars aredisconnected, and can be shifted at any time, the stops U being placedunder said levers P, to uphold the said coupling-pin until the link V iswith drawn by separating the cars, when the push-block D will shootforward, through the action of the spring F, and carry the pin G.

The coupling of cars is effected in a reverse` manner of that describedfor uncoupling.

One of the features of my push-block D is that, when the pin and linkare in position, the spring F, acting upon said block, presses the linktightly against the pin, and thus keeps the same in any position, eitherelevat- 2 A l i 198,736

ed, horizontal, or depressed. In this the pushblock is assisted by thespherical depression in u catch the same, which might not always be thecase were the said block square-faced, in which case lthe pin G may fallupon the link Vand not readily catch.

It is obvious that in uncoupling cars only one of the pins on each caris withdrawn, and

that one of the .links always remains in thev draw-head C, and is heldthere by the pushblock D, in the position it was in when leavling theopposite draw-head, and is thus ever ready to make connection withoutguiding the link into the opposite draw-head.

v It is further evident that, the levers P being duplicates, coupling`and uncoupling may be effected from either side of the car.

In passenger-cars having front and rear platforms I shall alter theshape of the-levers P P' to it that style of cars-that is to say, Ishall bend these levers upward directly behind their fulcrums, so as tobring the end having the handle into a vertical, instead of ahorizontal, position, and so that they may be readily manipulated fromsuch platform, and shall attach the guide-brackets S S accordingly. Nofurther changes are required to fit my coupling to a car of thebefore-mentioned style.

To enable my draw-head to connect with the style of hook-couplings knownas the Miller coupler,7 which is extensively usedl on passenger-cars, Imay provide my drawhead C with wings W, Fig. 3, behind which said hookmay catch. As a matter of course,

in uncoupling such a connection the Miller coupler will have to bemanipulated.

When two cars are to be coupled having` each a pin-and-link coupling,but one being considerable higher than the other, I shall use thecrooked links now employed for a like purpose.

l have heretofore mentioned that the coupling-pin G has a disk, J. Thisserves as a protector in winter-time, to prevent ice and snow.

from locating in the pin-hole, and thus prevent the proper andinstantaneous action of the pin G.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. The car-couplinghereinbefore described, consisting essentially of the draw head C,having the link-aperture fitted with the pushblock D, provided with thespherical depression in its face, the spring F on its shank, the coupyling-pin G, having the collar J and the angular perforated part H, thelever N, and the leversP, said levers P being pivoted to the car-body,and operating within bifurcated brackets S S, having the stops U pivotedto said brackets, the whole constructed and arranged to operatesubstantially as and for the purpose speciied.

2. The mechanism for actuating the coupling-pin G, consistingessentially of the pivoted lever N, pivoted levers P P', and guide-4 H.J. LEwIs DETTE. [1.. S4

Attest MICHAEL J. STARK, FRANK HIRscH.

